Country artist Kelsea Ballerini refuses to play it safe on ‘PATTERNS,’ diving deep into the realities of choosing love after being hurt in her highly anticipated fifth album.

Stream: ‘PATTERNS’ – Kelsea Ballerini

“Sorry, Mom, you know that I had sex before I bought the white dress. I know you’re not impressed with my lack of sticking to the Bible,” sings country superstar Kelsea Ballerini in the second verse off her single, “Sorry Mom.”

You don’t get much more honest and vulnerable than talking about sex, religion and your relationship with your mom less than two minutes into your new song. “Sorry Mom” feels as much Ballerini telling her mom that these traditional values aren’t healthy, as it is her apologising for making mistakes.

Ballerini has just released her highly anticipated PATTERNS (October 25, 2024 via Black River Entertainment), the follow-up to her critically acclaimed Rolling Up the Welcome Mat EP, which both served as a post-divorce record and a reset on Ballerini’s creative output up until that point. Ballerini has spoken about how Rolling Up the Welcome Mat allowed her to be completely honest in her songwriting, as well as changing our she wrote and sang her music.

PATTERNS is a continuation of this evolution. It feels a world away from her bright and upbeat album SUBJECT TO CHANGE, which was released in 2022. Not that PATTERNS is all doom and gloom, but it has the feel of someone who’s being a bit more cautious with their heart.

As a listener and a critic, you can’t help but compare Rolling Up the Welcome Mat with PATTERNS, which at times feels unfair.

The former made such an impact when it dropped with its accompanying short film. It felt like Ballerini had found her niche as a 30-year-old woman and was pulling back the well-crafted sheen of being a country singer happily married to another country singer. She addressed marriage, divorce, insecurities, growing up in the South, marriage counseling, all to her country-pop-R’n’B sonic pallet. Ballerini said she wrote Rolling Up the Welcome Mat for her and her alone, and then thought about releasing it. It was lightning in a bottle.

PATTERNS is an evolution for Ballerini in terms of her songwriting, musical landscape and storytelling. The record is by no means perfect and would have benefitted from her letting go of her wanting to recreate the magic of Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, but as a fan of that record, I can understand why Ballerini wanted her next project to aim for the stars.

There are beautiful moments on the record. “Sorry Mom,” which is written like a conversation, the ethereal “First Rodeo,” and the sprawling Americana title track, all are exquisitely arranged and come close to the honesty and un-self-consciousness of Rolling Up the Welcome Mat, and then go even further.

I rode off into the sunset
The red dust hadn’t been kicked up yet
Thought I knew all of the ropes
Thought I could ride like a pro
Never knew I’d have a round two
I fell off, babe, but I found you
Take my heart, but take it slow
‘Cause this ain’t my first rodeo

In these moments, the record soars and Ballerini’s evolution feels organic. “We Broke Up,” which comes at the halfway mark, stands out with its heavy, anthemic beat and Ballerini’s sultry vocal and her lyrical playfulness. Her singing/shouting “We Broke Up” in the chorus makes the song tough and fun all at once.

I can deep dive in the details
Take a stroll, camera roll, old emails
But it’s as simple as
We broke up

Where this evolution falls down is when Ballerini clings too tightly to the recipe she used for Rolling Up the Welcome Mat. Trying to recreate a masterpiece never ends well.

There are moments where Ballerini relies too heavily writing in a stream of conscious style, which worked well on “Interlude” and “Blindsided,” but ends up making songs like “Two Things,” “Nothing Else Matters” and “WAIT!” feel like an overstuffed suitcase. Ballerini tries crams too many specific references or popular concepts into her verses, which leaves you overwhelmed and picking through the lyrics rather than being able to let the music wash over you. Songs like “Deep,” “How Much Do You Love Me?” and “I Would, Would You” often feel too simple for Ballerini’s songwriting prowess.

Luckily, having 15 tracks allows for the good songs to outweigh the bad. “Baggage” the up-tempo track, which namechecks Rolling Up the Welcome Mat and turns it into a positive, “If you want that welcome mat then roll it up with me.” It calls to mind Ballerini’s previous records, full of joy and lightness, but with new confidence that only comes from living the rough stuff.

“Beg For Your Love” is the standout song on the album. It is seemingly quiet and gentle with an acoustic guitar and Ballerini’s vocals, but her lyrics are made of steel.

If you want sorry on me knees
Babe that can’t be me
God you can be so mean
When I’m cryin’

Ballerini sings all the ways she loves this person, being their “ride or die,” “going the distance,” but is very clear that she will not be chasing this person down or begging for their love.

I’d follow you to the moon, babe
You know I’m ride or die for you
but if you wanna chase, I won’t run
I ain’t gonna beg for your love

I wanna go the distance babe
but can’t do it if I betray
all the weight before you the work I’ve done
I ain’t gonna beg for your love

On a personal level, this song is Ballerini honouring all the work she’s done on herself, but this song is much more important that just one person. “Beg For Your Love” is a song that girls and women everywhere need to hear.

The arrangement and style calls to mind Sugarland’s heart-wrenching “Stay” where Jennifer Nettles wrings her heart over Kristian Bush’s acoustic guitar. Nettles goes through all the ways she wants to stay as the other woman but just as the last chorus come in, she gets the courage to walk away. “Beg For Your Love” calls to mind this courage of saying I love you but not like this. I don’t know whether Ballerini paid homage to “Stay” deliberately, but regardless, I have a feeling “Beg For Your Love” is going to responsible for a lot of bad relationships going up in flames.

PATTERNS closes with “Did You Make It Home (outro),” a soft lullaby to all of us who are searching for a home.

The sparseness of the track and Ballerini’s soft vocals, bring that emotion of ever searching for “that place” to the forefront.

Kelsea Ballerini has clearly found her home in music and in her personal life.

PATTERNS is Ballerini’s invitation for all of us to find our place, even only for an hour.

Is it a time or is it a place?
Is it a person or a change?
Are you safe on the road you chose?
Did you make it home?

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 © Nyk Allen

PATTERNS

an album by Kelsea Ballerini